How Sleeping Habits Empower Recovery

Addiction recovery requires a variety of different healthy habits to get back on track. Because substance abuse changes the way the chemistry of the body and mind works, you can’t separate mental and physical health from the practice of addiction recovery. One such thing that can make a big impact on how a person recovers from addiction is their sleeping habits. Healthy sleeping habits have the power to empower recovery for a variety of reasons…

Addiction destroys healthy sleeping patterns

First of all, it’s important to note that there is a well recorded link between addiction and sleeping patterns. Many times, people will start self-medicating with abusive substances for the sole purpose of helping them get to sleep. If this is the case, then they will find that it is difficult to get to sleep naturally without the help of that substance. This makes insomnia an all too common occurrence during recovery.

Sleep helps behavioral changes

A consistent daily routine is a powerful tool during recovery that cannot be underestimated. Addiction is a mental disorder that thrives on chaos, but having a continuous routine helps create a structure to put your life and mind back together. A healthy sleeping pattern is a major part of creating this routine, and is the bedrock of behavioral changes that are necessary to truly move past substance abuse.

Healthy sleeping tips

When struggling with insomnia and developing healthy sleeping habits, there are a few tips that you can use to help get your mind and body to rest:

Be Active, Daily: Make sure you are spending your day being active with your body and your mind. Add in some stretches of exercise to help keep your body pumped up. This will make it easier to fall asleep, later.

Avoid Late Caffeine: In addiction recovery, you want to keep your caffeine intake under control for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that it will get in the way of your sleeping patterns if you have it too late in the day.

Put Away Devices: We spend so much of every day surrounded by bright screens, but that’s not something we want when we’re trying to get to sleep. Don’t spend any time scrolling through your phone, laptop, or tablet after you’ve already laid down.